Weldrod



Patented Oct. 20, 1936 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELDBOD James E. Trainer, Fair-lawn, Ohio, assignor to The Babcock & Wilcox Company, Bayonne, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 11, 1932, Serial No. 631,2:54 15 Claims. (01. 219-8) This invention relates to a coated weldrod for Also it is to be noted that when the projections use primarily in electric welding of the are are above the surface of the covering or coating classification. there is no tendency of the contact means to crack In weldrodsfor the aforesaid character of weldor rub the coating or covering.

ing it is sometimes important that the weldrod In the drawing annexed hereto and forming a 6 carry a coating which is of a character adapted to part of this specification I have illustrated a decontribute importantly to the welding operation; sirable form of the weldrod of the present invensuch coatings or coverings may be of the orderv tion for the purpose of making such disclosure as of either thick or thin, as conditions may require, is required by the patent statutes; in the draw- 10 but in any event have a dielectric characteristic ing 10 which renders it desirable to provide some ad- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a weldjunct whereby the electric current is transmitted rod with the coating or covering cut away to disbetween the rod and adjacent current carrying close the core; parts such, for instance, as the weldrod feeding F a 2 i a e l v ion f th weldr d shown head which may be of either the automatic or in Fig. 1 in position between contact surfaces; 10 manually controlled type. I Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing Heretofore many ways of effecting current cart e spacing 0f t e Contact Projections u t at rying contact between weldrod and supply have there will always be one contact member having been resorted to as, for instance, a bare strip exmore than one contact projection engaging ther'etending lineally of the rod, but this has the with. 20 objection of decreasing the coated or covered 4 is a sverse seet en 0n the l ne 4- 0! surface to too large an extent; and then, also, F and contact has been effected by creating bare por- 5 is a t a sve se sect on On t e line 5-5 tions on the weldrod by grinding ofl. portions of of the coating after it has been applied, but this In detail 5' has the disadvantage of rendering necessary some form of toothed arrangement to enter the depres- The w d as shown in t drawing Comprises sions; then, again spurs have been ed whi h ametal core or body 10 deformed at spaced lineal pierce the coating but in thisway contact is and circumferentially disposed locations to prouncertain. vide the upstanding projections II which consti- The present invention provides a weldrod havtute the contact locations on the finished weldrod. ing a coating or covering of the character men- These projections ll may be produced by any tioned in the foregoing and which is constituted of suitable p oc s as y g, swag g, the l a metal core formed with lineally spaced projecand collectively etmstitutev y small P t ons extending at least through the coating to age of the total surface area of the weldrod core provide for electrical contact. or body Hi.

In addition the lineally spaced projections are Appl d to the metal Core y y am also circumferentially spaced, and they may be suitable method is a coating or covering l2 that arranged so that while they collectively constiassists in the perfection of the weld such, for

v 40 tute but a small portion of the weldrod surface instance, as the coating or covering material set 40 thatis bare,they also are of adequate area to proforth in the copending application of James C. vide efficient contact for the current to be carried. Hodge and M n s Christensen, Serial N 4,- A further object is to arrange the aforesaid 160,-filed in the United States Patent Ofllce Febcontact projections in combination with current ruary 20, 1932.

carrying surfaces such, for instance, as shoes be- I The aforesaid coating or cov r is designated 45 tween which the electrode passes, that there are at 12 and is of uniform thickness and concentric always several of the projections in contact with with the weldrod body or Core e thickness the said surfaces. of the said covering or coating I2 is suflicient only Another feature is that by forming and arso that it provides an adequate amount of the ranging the projections from the body of the material for welding with a' weldrod core III of 5 metal core of the weldrod the mass of metal enthe diameter selected and the projections Ii may tering the arc is always uniform in cross secextend either flush with the coating or covering tional area, irrespective of whether the portion I2, or may project slightly above the same, as entering the arc does or does not carry a proshown. ;The projections, weldrod core and coatjection. ing may all be proportioned to each other and to I the current to be carried, and are so constituted that the substances thereof, under welding conditions, promote good welding operations by surrounding and protecting the are working area and molten or highly heated metal.

Adjacent the weldrod are contact shoes or surfaces A and B, or other similar elements, which function to carry the current and which are proportioned along with the lineal and circumferential spacing of the projections Ii on the weldrod so that the said shoes or surfaces are always in contact with more than one of the projections I I, and preferably one of the shoes or surfaces A or B is in contact with more than one projection I l at all times, though the area of only one projection may be of an extent to carry the total welding current for the particular size weldrod selected to do a job.

While in the foregoing I have described and illustrated a specific form of weldrod it is to be understood that such weldrod may be in the form of long lengths of coiled wire, or may be rela tively short stiff straight lengths and may have either a thick or thin covering or coating l2, and that while the projections i l have been indicated as rectangular they may be square, round, diamond shape or oval, and in the latter cases with their major axis disposed either transversely, longitudinally or diagonally with respect to the axis of the weldrod and in no event do I expect by the description set forth herein to limit my inven tion to any particular form except as such limitations are impressed upon the invention by the appended claims defining the same.

I claim:

1. A weldrod comprising a metal core and a coating therefor, the said metal core having a plurality of lineally spaced and entirely separate projections extending through said coating to provide for electrical contact, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

2. A weldrod comprising a metal core and a coating therefor, the said metal core having preformed thereon from the metal of the core body prior to the application of the said coating, a series of lineally spaced projections extending through the coating to provide for electrical contact, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

3. A weldrod comprising a metal core provided with a coating of uniform thickness, the said core having a group of lineally spaced projections extending through the coating to provide for electrical contact, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

4." A weldrod comprising a metal core having integrally formed lineally spaced contact projections, and a non-metallic covering or coating wholly sheathing the body of the core exclusive of at least the contact surfaces of said projections.

5. A weldrod comprising a metal core having integrally formed lineally spaced contact projections at diametrically opposite lineal locations,

. and a non-metallic covering or coating wholly sheathing the body of the core exclusive of at least the contact surfaces of said projections.

6. A weldrod comprising a metal core provided with a coating of uniform thickness, the said core to provide for electrical contact and collectively,

providing a lesser exposed surface than any single rib of a width equal to any one of the said projections, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

8. The method of forming a covered or coated weldrod which comprises upsetting or swaging contact projections on a welded core, and then coating the core with a welding assistant to a thickness at least no greater than the extent of the aforesaid projections.

9. A coated or covered metal core weldrod having contact projections integral with the core and each proportioned to carry the total current required by the size of the weldrod, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

10. In combination, a coated or covered metal core weldrod having contact projections integral with the core and extending at least through the coating or covering, and contact members each arranged for contact with at least one of said projections, the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

11. In combination, a coated or covered. metal core weldrod having contact projections extending at least through the coating or covering, and contact members each arranged for contact with said projections with one member of the members always in contact with more than one projection,

the coating completely circumscribing the projections so as to constitute a substantially continuous sheath for the rod.

12. A weldrod having projections produced from the body of the rod whereby the cross sectional area at locations free from projections is identical with the cross sectional area through said projec-- tions.

13. A metallic weldrod having at spaced and separate positions projections struck up from the metal body of the rod so as to leave the rod with a substantially uniform conductive cross section, and an electrically non-conductive coating covering the rod and circumscribing the projections, the projections extending beyond the'exterior surface of the coating a substantial distance suflicient to prevent electrical contact means from cracking or rubbing the coating.

14. An arc welding electrode having a coating of flux through which extend fin-like projections forming an integral part of said electrode.

15. A flux coated arc welding electrode provided with fin-like projections separated from one another circumferentially as well as lengthwise of said electrode and of a height substantially equal to the thickness of said flux coating.

Jams E. TRAINER. 

